More Malaysians are crossing the border to Singapore for better pay and career opportunities as high inflation and a weakening ringgit continue to plague their home country.

As reported by Channel News Asia, staffing companies in Singapore have noted a recent influx of Malaysians seeking work in the Lion City.

Recruitment agency Nala Employment said there has been at least a 50% increase in the number of calls its general hotline has received from Malaysians looking for jobs.

Meanwhile, Cultivar Staffing & Search said that job postings over the past three months have attracted up to 30% more job applicants from Malaysia than during the same period in 2023.

Zac Ng, managing director at Cultivar, believes Malaysians are starting to see the potential benefits of working in Singapore instead of staying home.

"We reckon that rather than working in the same job for RM3,000 to RM6,000, they might as well work in Singapore for around S$3,000 to S$6,000," Ng said.

Singapore as a work destination of choice

Singapore has long been Malaysian workers’ destination of choice. In 2022, for example, 1.13 million out of 1.86 million Malaysians who left to work abroad chose Singapore for its employment opportunities, according to V. Sivakumar, former Human Resources minister of Malaysia.

Indeed, many Malaysians who make the daily cross-border journey said their country’s recent economic struggles pushed them to look for a job in Singapore, Nikkei Asia reports.

A survey by the Malaysian government showed the top three reasons its citizens prefer to cross the border: a wide range of employment opportunities, higher salaries, and a favourable exchange rate between the Singaporean dollar and ringgit.

Singapore has a robust economy allowing companies to offer better salaries and career opportunities. They also provide better working environments compared to other places.

In 2023, the number of jobs in the Lion City grew by 88,400. As many as 83,500 of these jobs were given to non-residents of Singapore, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

"Singapore is committed to being open and welcoming to foreigners who bring in skills that are in short supply, to complement our local workforce," a representative for the MOM said.

Malaysia’s economic woes

The ringgit, Malaysia’s national currency, has been on a downtrend since 2023. The country is also facing steep inflation, with a 1.8% year-on-year increase in February. In the same month, inflation topped the 1.4% forecast by economists.

Earlier this year, Bank Negara Malaysia revealed the Malaysian economy had a slower than expected growth during the fourth quarter of 2023. While the central bank believes this was due to the country’s subdued exports, it is still optimistic that 2024 will be a better year for the economy.

No more waiting around

While Malaysia’s economy has shown signs of recovery over the past few months, many workers do not seem to want to stick around and wait. They would rather cross the border to Singapore to find better employment opportunities.

According to employment agencies, popular choices for Malaysian job seekers are retail and food services, manufacturing, engineering, industrials and technology. Many also sought jobs in Singapore’s healthcare sector.

For other Malaysian talent, Singapore is their top destination for overseas work because of how easy it is to commute to and from the city-state.

Tan See Leng, Singapore’s minister of manpower, said much of the increase in foreign employment involved jobs that Singaporeans would not "typically" want to do themselves.

The MOM told CNA that Singapore expects to see more Malaysians seeking employment in Singapore.